


More Than: Okay, Sounds Good

by Diary



Category: Spider-Man (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Aunt-Nephew Relationship, Awkwardness, Bechdel Test Fail, Bisexual Bruce Banner, Bisexual Peter Parker, Bisexual Tony Stark, Bruce Banner & Tony Stark Friendship, Canon Character of Color, Canon Crossover, Canon Divergence - Post-Avengers (2012), Confused Peter Parker, Demiromantic Character, Demisexual Character, Drawing, Families of Choice, Featuring Bunk Beds, Fluff and Humor, Friendship/Love, Holding Hands, Implied Sexual Content, Interracial Relationship, Interspecies Romance, Introspection, Late Night Conversations, May Parker (Spider-Man) Can’t Cook, Minor Betty Ross/Glenn Talbot, Minor Bruce Banner/Tony Stark, Ned Leeds is Demisexual, Not Spider-Man: Homecoming Compliant, Other: See Story Notes, POV Bisexual Character, POV Male Character, POV Multiple, POV Nonhuman, Past Bruce Banner/Betty Ross - Freeform, Past Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Peter Parker-centric, Relationship Negotiation, Romance, Science Boyfriends, Self-Reflection, Sex Talk, Sexual Confusion, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-27
Updated: 2018-10-27
Packaged: 2019-08-08 08:17:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16425749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Diary/pseuds/Diary
Summary: AU. In which there's teenage confusion, none of the adults are villains and/or useless, and everyone has a happy ending. Complete.





	More Than: Okay, Sounds Good

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own anything in Marvel.

“Hello, Peter,” Karen cheerfully greets.

Feeling pathetic, he says, “Hey, Karen.” Doing a flip onto his favourite building, he settles on the ledge. “Do you ever get tired of hearing me talk about my- about girls and crushes and stuff?”

“Of course not, Peter. Is this about Liz? Have you heard from her recently?”

“No.” He leans back. “Karen, can you promise Mister Stark won’t hear about this?”

“I can give you assurance it’s unlikely he’ll hear anything from me. The baby monitor and training wheels protocols have never been reinitiated. Short of being hacked, I’ll keep all of your confidences, Peter.”

“Cool. Thanks.” He leans back.

She waits patiently.

“I maybe haven’t been completely honest. I’m bisexual.”

“I deduced as much based on your vital signs when-”

He groans. “Okay. Glad you know.” He’d ask why she never said anything, but then, a large part of him is glad she didn’t.

“Besides this, though-”

No matter how he tries to sort it in his head, he never comes out good. It’s all a confusing mess, and he just wishes there’d be a time when things stopped being so confusing. Every time he gets one area of his life under control, something else pops up.

“I’m incapable of engaging in most of the judgements humans make, Peter.”

“Ned and I aren’t dating, but we have done some stuff. Stuff I won’t be elaborating on, because, it wouldn’t be cool to tell anyone about these very private things, but it’s more than just building Legos and doing awesome saving people stuff.”

“If I understand correctly, you and Ned have been engaging in physical acts of affection.”

Utterly relieved, he says, “Yes. Let’s go with that, and leave it there.” He takes a breath. “And when we started, we agreed we weren’t boyfriends. We could date other people, assuming that we could date other people. That we could find someone who wanted to date us. Anyway, yeah, we weren’t boyfriends.”

“When I asked Liz to homecoming and she said yes, we agreed that we might not be doing certain things anymore. But when that didn’t work out, we kept doing things.”

“Where does the problem come in?"

Making a web-rope, he starts jumping. “Earlier, we were hanging out, just hanging out, and he said something about him getting a girlfriend in the future. It was hypothetical, but-”

Sitting down, he starts gathering up the webbing.

“You were jealous at the thought?”

“Yeah, and that’s not good. I wanted Liz to be my girlfriend so badly, and all this time, I’ve been thinking about _me_ possibly getting a girlfriend someday. But when I thought about him getting one, suddenly, I just wanted it to be him and me. That’s a major, uncool double-standard, isn’t it?”

“Not necessarily. Is it that you only want him to be with you and want you while you’re free to pursue others, or is it that his comment has made you think you might want it to be him and you exclusively?”

“The latter, except, I don’t _think_ that. I hope Liz is doing okay and has managed to be happy even with her dad in prison, but if she came back, I’d only want to be her friend. I suddenly want a lot more with Ned. I don’t mean- our level of physical affection is good for right now. That’s not what I want to take to a different level. I don’t want a girlfriend, and the only boyfriend I want would be him.”

“Then, you should talk to him.”

“You’re not getting it, Karen. ‘Hey, Ned, I was fine with us being casual until it was you who might be the one who-’”

He doesn’t even want to think about it. He doesn’t want to think about Ned touching someone else, about them getting to touch Ned, about Ned smiling and laughing and possibly holding hands with someone.

“It seems to me you’re ascribing a level of selfishness to yourself greater than you’ve actually exhibited, and in the process, you’re hung up in feeling sorry for yourself instead of doing something to change your situation,” she says in her normal cheery voice. “You and Ned agreed to add a level of physical affection to your friendship with the understanding it might stop once one or both of you found someone to enter a monogamous, romantic relationship with.”

“You had a crush on Liz, and when that didn’t work out, you got over the crush. Now, you’ve realised you don’t want Ned to be in a monogamous, romantic relationship with anyone but you. Can you be certain your response would have been jealousy if he’d brought up the possibility when you still had your crush on Liz?”

He considers this.

“No. But it still feels- I don’t know. Ned’s my best friend. He deserves someone who’d never be selfish, who always recognises how awesome he is.”

“Well, he won’t ever get that,” she responds. “Peter, everyone is occasionally selfish. And no matter how much a person usually recognises how awesome their partner is, there are times when they get annoyed by said partner or other conflicts arise within the relationship.”

“Okay, if you want to be extremely literal-”

“Peter, where did putting off telling Liz how you felt get you?”

“You only have a little bit of a point. If not for her dad, things might have been different.”

“Do you wish they had been?”

“Yes and no. I feel really bad about her having to deal with her dad being in prison, but her and I not working out, sometimes, I wonder, ‘what if’, but then, I think, ‘What if I missed doing things with Ned?’ I guess that wouldn’t have been very fair to her.”

“You can never know for sure how you would have felt and done things if something different had happened. Right now, you and Ned are both romantically unattached. You want to be boyfriends with him. You should tell him, or this might be another thing you find yourself wondering, ‘what if,’ and possibly regretting in the future.”

His phone beeps.

“Thanks for the talk, Karen.”

“Anytime.”

…

Ned stays the night, and he means to talk about things.

Instead, he ends up squeezed on the bottom bunk next to Ned.

“You seem distracted,” Ned says. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah.” He kisses Ned’s chest. “Everything’s fine. Sorry. Just a lot on my mind.”

“About Spider-Man stuff or regular life stuff?”

When they were twelve, he realised how much he liked laying and sleeping next to Ned in bed. He’d tried to talk to May and Ben about it, but it’d come out- awkward and confusing, and when they assumed it was an issue of him outgrowing sharing his bed, they’d found the bunk bed at a pawn shop.

He’d just gone with it.

Now, as much as he likes being so close to Ned at night, he thinks a bigger bed might be better. He could still press up against Ned when it was time to sleep, but they’d be able to do their homework together more comfortably, and maybe, if they end up getting an apartment together when they graduate, they could make the bed together in the morning.

“Regular life stuff.”

Over on his desk chair is his suit, and it’s probably his imagination, but he can almost swear Karen is observing and judging him.

That’s actually a creepy thought, he realises. He definitely needs to find out if her recording him extends to when he’s not wearing the suit.

“Anything I can do to help?”

“No, but thanks.”

Ned yawns. “Okay. But you know I’m always here.”

He feels it as Ned’s breathing evens out, and closing his own eyes, he tries to sleep.

…

In the morning, he slings out of bed, flips onto the top bunk to turn off the alarm before it goes off, and slipping on a t-shirt, he finds Ned’s pyjamas.

By the time May’s knocking and opening the door, he’s curled up under the cold covers of the top bunk, and wearing the pyjamas, Ned is mumbling about how he can totally be the guy in the chair even with his cat allergy.

Thankfully, when May’s around, Ned’s morning mumbles are never directly about him being Spider-Man.

“Of course, you can, kiddo." She kisses Ned's forehead. “I laid out some oatmeal and egg bowls. Why don’t you go fix them, and after we eat, you can take your shower?”

Nodding, Ned gets up, and ambling towards the kitchen, he declares, “Maybe, I can get a Sphinx."

She looks at him with a quirked eyebrow.

“I don’t know,” he answers. “I think this girl in English getting a new cat put his mind on the subject.”

Laughing, she kisses his forehead. “Better take your shower.”

…

He’s not glad MJ has the flu, but he is glad she’s not around to give the impression she knows exactly what’s going on with him.

Plus, unlike Karen, he isn’t sure she wouldn’t get fed up and lay it all out to Ned.

Trying to shake the thoughts away, he says, “Hey, I was thinking we could help Dr Banner with Mister Stark’s new Iron suit tracker after school.”

Ned smiles. “That’d be awesome, dude.”

…

When they get to the lab, Dr Banner is talking on the phone. “No, I understand, Betty, but Bree can’t…”

They go to the test area.

“I hope Dr Talbot’s daughter’s okay,” Ned quietly says.

“Yeah, me too. Do you think I should text Mister Stark?”

“He knows Dr Banner talks to Dr Talbot every Tuesday at five. He’ll probably be over soon.”

“Good point.”

They put their backpacks up.

“Hey, speaking of adults and worrying about kids, are things any better with you and May?”

“Yeah, kind of. She’s still a little too homicidal towards Mister Stark for comfort, but she’s stopped trying to destroy the suit in the washer.” And the dryer, and with kitchen knives, and by microwaving it-

At Ned's look, he admits, “Okay, the washer, dryer, and microwave might have been accidents, and the knife thing was just a dream, but she did threaten to throw it in that dumpster in Manhattan.”

“She’s letting you patrol, though, and maybe, when we face our next villain, we can ease into telling her about it.”

“I hope so.”

He wonders, if Ned did want to be boyfriends, how they’d go about telling her that. She sort of knows he’s bi, but they haven’t really talked about it.

Not long after Ben died, he’d been babbling one night, and the phrase, ‘I’m not gay,’ had been uttered.

She’d been really cool about it. She’d said, ‘Honey, whether you like a girl or boy, it doesn’t matter. I’m always going to worry about you, but as long as you bring home someone nice who understands how lucky they are to have you, I’ll be happy.’

Then, she’d asked about Ned, and he sort of regrets his answer. That was before anything had happened between them, but- he’d known he’d wanted things to happen. He’d been having dreams.

He hadn’t thought they ever would, though, and so, he’d made it clear Ned was nothing but his best friend.

More than this, her being okay with him and Ned dating probably wouldn’t be the same as her finding out he and Ned have been doing _things_ in his room with the door closed. She might not be okay with learning he’s been doing _things_ with someone he isn’t or wasn’t in a serious relationship with.

“Hey, boys,” Dr Banner says.

Looking up from his laptop, he’s relieved to see Dr Banner doesn’t look subdued. Dr Banner’s resting face is neutral, but there is a difference between it and his ‘I’m actively working to make sure none of my real thoughts and feelings make it onto my face or into my body language’ expression.

“Hey, Dr Banner,” they say.

“Peter brought his suit. Is the tracker ready for a test run?”

…

“Dude, this is so cool. I can see the composition of the water molecules. Hey, you should-”

“I’m not jumping in, Ned.”

“You could cup some of the water into your hands.”

“Yeah, alright." Swinging down, he lifts some water up in his hands.

“Whoa. I’m sending you a picture.”

It pops up, and he lets the water fall. “No way? That’s what the tracker’s scanner picks up?”

“Uh-huh. I told you, it’s awesome.”

“What should we try next?”

“What if you just stuck your head in the water? There might be fish. Or sharks. Sharks get a bad reputation, you know.”

“Yeah, I know, but Ned there have never been any sharks in this pond. Wait. I might have an idea, but we should probably run it by Dr Banner, first. Is he there?”

Dr Banner comes on, and after sighing, he says, “Go ahead, Peter. If Tony gets mad, I’m going to point out he would have just immediately jumped in.”

Looking around, he takes the suit off, and making sure to keep a firm hold, he dunks it under the water.

Then, he remembers he should have taken his cell phone out first.

…

“Good job today,” Dr Banner says. “Now that we know the tracker isn’t waterpoof, we can work on that. Peter, here’s your phone back.”

Seeing it’s back in working order, he says, “Thanks, doc.”

Sitting down, Dr Banner nods. “I’m going to do some further tests after you two go home. Ned, why don’t you go fill two of the aquariums up, one with cold water, and one with hot?”

“Wouldn’t it be best to do one with room temperature, too?”

“That might be a good idea.”

Smiling, Ned goes off.

He’s never been able to teach Ned to spot the obvious tactics employed when adults are trying to split them up. It’s why their third grade prank didn’t work, how they got in trouble with their seventh grade science project, and part of why he didn’t tell Ned about the spider bite. He’ll admit, he was wrong in that Ned did great about not spilling the beans, but given their history, he didn’t make an unreasonable decision. Ned might have gotten better under pressure, but he still has significant trouble recognising when pressure might be about to be applied.

“You’re not in trouble,” Dr Banner’s wry voice breaks into his thoughts.

“Oh, good. So, uh, why’d you want to talk to me, then?”

Giving him a kind smile, Dr Banner responds, “I just wanted to ask if everything’s okay. You seem a little mentally detached.”

“I’m good, but thanks for asking, Dr Banner.”

“Just remember, me and Tony are here if you ever need to talk. You can go help Ned with the aquariums if you want.”

He starts to, and then- Coming back over, he sits down. “Have you ever had a crush on a friend?”

Taking his glasses off, Dr Banner chuckles. “Yes. Is that what’s going on with you?”

“Yeah. And Ned knows the person, so.”

“Unfortunately, I don’t think I can be much help in this area. Tony might be. He and Miss Potts were very close friends for years before they got together.”

“Did you ever tell the person you liked about your feelings?”

“No. There were two instances when I found out that the person I liked, liked me back, and both times, it’s because they told me.”

“So, you didn’t think making a move was a good idea any of those times?”

“I didn’t say that. Even before the other guy, I’ve had issues. In some cases, I knew it would be a bad idea. In others, no matter how much I wanted to, no matter how hard I tried to convince myself to take a chance, I just couldn’t bring myself to.”

“And-” He hesitates. “Was Dr Talbot one of those cases?”

A sad smile crosses Dr Banner’s face. “Yes. She was.”

They’re way too young to get married, but he tries to imagine him and Ned-

Unfortunately, what he ends up imagining is Ned marrying someone else with him being Ned’s best man, because, if Ned doesn’t make him best man, he’s going to have to question their entire friendship.

Also, how is he supposed to be best man when he unfairly already doesn’t like the imaginary person Ned’s marrying?

“What if, and I’m not saying this is true, it’s just a hypothetical-”

“Peter, unless you give me reason to believe you’re a danger to yourself or others, I’m not going to repeat anything you say to me.”

“Okay, the thing is, I don’t know what the age of consent is here. I know it used to be seventeen, but I remember there was something on the news recently about that possibly changing. Some people in my school are under eighteen and seventeen and do things with each other, and I don’t think that should be a crime.”

“The age of consent was lowered to 16 two months ago. Just tell me two things: One, you understand, if someone ever hurts you, you can talk to people, don’t you? It doesn’t have to be your aunt, me, Tony, or even the police. There are people who aren’t mandatory reporters that will listen and try to help.”

“No one’s hurting me. No one has, and if someone ever does, yeah, I know.”

Dr Banner nods. “And if you are doing something with a classmate or just a kid close to your own age, you’re being smart about it, right?”

Forcing himself not to flip up onto the ceiling, he nods.

“If you want to tell me more about this hypothetical, go ahead.”

“What if the person I like, this friend, what if we’ve been doing things but agreed it didn’t mean we were dating? But I suddenly realised I wanted us to be dating?”

“Then, I’d strongly urge you to either talk to this person or end things, Peter,” Dr Banner says with firm seriousness. “When you get older, you might come to understand that there are some people who truly can separate sex or other more physical acts from relationships. Most people, however, can’t. A lot of them want to, but they can’t.”

“And if you want more with this person-” Dr Banner sighs. “You’re too young to experience the hurt doing things with someone you like who doesn’t have the same feelings, who doesn’t want the same thing with you that you want with them. If they don’t feel the same and you walk away, that will hurt more than you might think is possible to handle.”

“But you can handle it, and you’re just going to need to trust me when I say it will hurt a lot less in the long run than letting yourself be used.”

“He-” Wincing, he considers banging his head against the table.

Giving another slight smile, Dr Banner says, “Peter, I don’t care whether this person is a boy or girl.”

“This person isn’t using me. I was kind of afraid I might be using him, because, I didn’t realise I wanted this until he said something about maybe one day getting a girlfriend. I’m bisexual, by the way, and I guess he is, too.”

“It doesn’t matter whether he knows how you feel or not. If you keep doing things while wanting more, the feeling of being used will be there.”

Great, he thinks.

Now, he’s back to worrying about him possibly using Ned.

Speaking of, they hear Ned coming up the elevator.

“Thanks, doc. I’ll keep what you’ve said in mind.”

…

“What would you say about us being boyfriends,” he blurts out.

Ned blinks back to full wakefulness.

It’s both awesome and a little weird how he’s able to do that.

“Do you want us to be boyfriends?”

This, he’ll admit, is a perfectly logical question, and still, he finds himself irrationally testy over it.

“Because, if you do, that would be cool.”

“What? Really?” Relief and happiness flood him.

“Mm-hmm.” Ned nods.

“Is this something you’ve been wanting, too?”

He’s not sure what exactly he expected Ned to say, but everything feels cold when Ned shrugs. “Not really.”

It’s probably wrong to be angry at Ned.

Besides, if he goes to sleep on the couch or wakes May up to take Ned home, she’s going to want to know _why_ he’s angry.

Ned might realise something’s up, because, he feels Ned finding and squeezing his hand. “I- that might have come out differently to you than I meant it. You’re always going to be my best friend, Peter. And it’s so cool getting to kiss you and do other things with you, but if we didn’t, as long as you were still my best friend, that would be good. Are we going to be secret boyfriends or tell people?”

Part of him is glad for the slight subject change, and part of him wants to go back to the part where, apparently, Ned can just easily take or leave what they’ve been doing.

“Which do you think would be better?”

“I don’t mind keeping it a secret, but it doesn’t matter to me if other people know. My parents and grandparents know I like boys. My parents are a little weird about it, but my grandparents don’t care.”

“What? You never told me this.”

“Yeah, I was going to, I think, but then, with your Uncle Ben- By the time you were doing better, I sort of forgot I was going to.”

He kisses Ned. “What about me? Do they know about me?”

“No, of course not, dude. You didn’t want anyone to know, so, I haven’t told anyone.”

Snuggling closer to Ned, he quietly says, “I don’t like the thought of anyone else being with you.”

“Well, if we’re boyfriends, I won’t be. That’s what boyfriends and girlfriends means, right? That it’s more than casual dating or doing stuff.”

“Usually, yeah. But you don’t care if I’m with someone else?”

It really shouldn’t hurt this much, he’s pretty sure.

“As long as you’re still my best friend, no. I’d miss getting to kiss you and having you sleep next to me and some of the other stuff we do, but all that, it isn’t as important as us being friends. If you like doing those things with someone else better, that’s fine. I like cooking with my parents better than I like trying to cook things with you and May.”

Well, the last one is fair enough, he’ll admit. Ned is a decent cook, and the Leeds’ are wonderful cooks.

Meanwhile, shortly after Ben died, the neighbourhood association had a meeting about the legality of entering someone’s house and removing their stove (it turned out, even if they could legally do it, they’d have to pay May the cost of the stove, and so, they’ve settled for routinely sending coupons for microwavable foods and certain fast food restaurants), and even Ned has gotten frustrated at their ability to screw up even the simplest directions to the point, last time Ned tried cooking with them, he suspects Ned was close to locking them outside of the house.

“There’s a big difference, though, between cooking and doing stuff.”

“I know there is to most people, but to me, when it comes to you, there’s really not. Like, I wouldn’t want to kiss or do anything sexual with MJ, but it’d hurt if she stopped being our friend. It’d really hurt if you ever stopped being my friend, but even though I like kissing and stuff, it wouldn’t hurt if you wanted to stop doing that.”

He almost says, ‘That makes no sense.’

Except, as much sense as it doesn’t make to him, it clearly does make sense to Ned.

“Let’s talk more about possibly being boyfriends this weekend,” he says.

“Okay,” Ned agrees.

Kissing him and snuggling deeper under the covers next to him, he feels Ned falling back to sleep.

…

After school, he goes to the lab alone.

Dr Banner is labelling petri dishes. Looking up, he comments, “It doesn’t look as if things have gotten any better.”

“Maybe.” Washing his hands, he puts on gloves, a lab jacket, and safety goggles before sitting down. “What are we labelling?”

“Saliva samples.” Dr Banner pushes a list, sharpie, and pencil over.

Looking at the first name, he finds the dish with the correct-coloured tape and labels it. “I talked to the person, and he’s fine with being boyfriends.”

“Have you decided it’s not what you really want?”

“What? No, I definitely still want it. I’m just not sure how much he does. I mean- Dr Banner, is it normal to like someone but not care if they want other people? Because, he said, as long as we’re still friends, it doesn’t really matter if we keep doing things. He likes it, and I know he likes me, but me just being a friend is enough for him.”

“It’s not exactly common,” Dr Banner answers. “But some people are like that. Sexual jealousy is hardwired into a large percentage of the human population. Paradoxically, however, I’ve always asserted monogamy is not a natural human instinct. Some people are genuinely inclined to it, but on the whole, humans aren’t a monogamous species.”

“But this isn’t about that,” he says. “Or not exactly. He isn’t interested in anyone else right now, and if we were together and someone showed an interest in him, it might hurt a little, and I might be jealous, but I’d trust him. He just- doesn’t want me the same way I want him.”

Giving him a sympathetic smile, Dr Banner takes off his glasses. “I don’t know this person, or as far as I know, I don’t. Look, Peter, I’m not sure how appropriate this is, but every relationship I’ve had has been an open one. Once we got to a certain point, I would have cared if they wanted to date someone else, but I honestly didn’t care if they were physically involved with anyone else. It sounds like your friend might have similar feelings. Having an emotional relationship with you might be the most important thing to them.”

He tries to wrap his head around this.

“Uh, even you and Dr Talbot?”

Dr Banner nods. “Yes.”

“But you were engaged.”

“Yes, we were. There are people who have open marriages. Peter, I know you probably won’t like hearing this, but it really might be better for you to-”

“I don’t want to stop what I’m doing. I want us to be boyfriends. Does this mean that he-”

He’s tempted to ask if Dr Banner was ever with anyone else when he was with Dr Talbot (he can’t really imagine the doc doing such a thing), but it definitely wouldn’t be appropriate.

“Can you tell me what bothers you the most about him feeling this way?”

Labelling some more dishes, he considers the question.

He had crushes before, but when he was twelve, he started to really notice Ned’s body.

It used to be Ned had dark brown skin, and aside from being vaguely angry some people thought there was something wrong with dark skin colours, it was a simple fact.

Except, then, he suddenly found himself thinking Ned’s skin was awesome. Not beautiful, ‘beautiful’ was and is still a word he reserves for feminine things, but looking at it, seeing it contrasting his own when their arms or legs were pressed together, it made him feel the same way seeing certain paintings in museums did.

Next, he found himself wanting to hug Ned all the time, because, Ned was round and soft, and he once purposefully piled stuff on the top bunk so that he could try to figure out why laying next to Ned suddenly felt so completely different.

When he was thirteen and fourteen, he started noticing different things about everyone. He thought about touching girls in places he’d only ever had a vague curiosity about before, and he found himself wanting to figure out how other boys were the same and different from him. Certain classmates were suddenly almost frighteningly pretty or scarily good-looking.

He’s not sure when exactly he started touching himself in the shower, but the person who popped into his head with the most frequency was Ned.

Finally, after the spider bite, his senses were going crazy, and he found focusing them on May and Ned helped calm him and focus them, except, in Ned’s case, it also made him want to do things with Ned even more deeply than he ever had before.

“I had a crush on a girl. Her name was Liz, and she moved away. I liked her when me and my friend were doing things. And he knew. He even tried to help me get together with her. If we had gotten together, me and Liz, things would have stopped with my friend. All that time I liked her- I guess I feel guilty, because, I don’t know, maybe, I don’t think people should be doing certain things when they like someone else, even if the person they’re doing things with is okay with it.”

“But.” He sighs. “I’m getting over that. It’s something I know not to do in the future. It’s just- I don’t know, Dr Banner. I feel like, maybe, if it weren’t for liking her, I would have wanted more with him sooner or realised that I did. And he’s never felt this way. I don’t want to be his ‘okay, sounds good’. I want- as friends, we love each other, but what if I end up being in love with him?”

At Dr Banner’s painfully pity-filled look, he sighs again. “Crap. I have to go back to just being friends with him and working to get over these feelings, don’t I?”

“You don’t have to, but it looks like that might be the best thing to do for you and your friendship in the long run.”

He nods. “Yeah, thanks, Dr Banner.”

They go back to labelling.

…

On Saturday, they’re exploring the city when Ned asks, “Are we going to talk about being boyfriends, now?”

“About that. Um, I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”

Except for kissing and sleeping together in the bottom bunk, they haven’t done anything since he talked to Dr Banner, and it turns out: He really doesn’t want to stop doing things.

He’s going to, because, it’s probably the right thing and for the best, but he really, really doesn’t want to.

“Oh. Okay.” A small frown crosses Ned’s face. “What changed?”

“I’m not sure I can explain.”

“Okay,” Ned says.

He should probably talk about how they aren’t going to be doing things anymore (and this sucks, because, there’s something he’s been wanting to do for awhile, and he’d been planning on bringing it up after they officially became boyfriends), but he decides he’s going to try to gradually ease into bringing this up.

…

After coming across a food truck, they find a bench to eat at.

“I thought I might be asexual.”

He’s used to Ned suddenly saying random things out-of-nowhere, and Ned’s the one person who never gets irritated when he blurts out random thoughts, but this is by-far one of the most confusing things Ned’s ever said.

Or at least, it’s one of the most confusing with Ned being fully awake and not sick. Ned’s morning mumbles and some of the things he’s said when he was sick and had taken NyQuil don’t exactly count, but they sometimes go past confusing to: No sane person could understand them, and it’s questionable whether an insane person could, either.

He looks over, and Ned continues, “Puberty for me basically meant I was sometimes really hungry and sometimes didn’t want to eat at all and that I got weirdly annoyed whenever my mom came into my room without knocking. That and having to find the right type of deodorant was all. But, uh, you were interested in girls and boys, and so was everyone else.”

“I didn’t understand, Peter. But then, we kissed, and suddenly, it started to make sense. Kind of. I wanted to keep kissing you, and when we started doing other things, I wanted that, too.”

He’s not sure exactly why, but something about this makes him feel a little better.

“But you talked about you getting a girlfriend someday,” he says.

Ned shrugs. “And you still haven’t given me any advice, dude. I’m not sure what that would mean. What if a girl liked me and I liked her but didn’t want to kiss her and stuff? Or the same but with a boy? What if I suddenly liked someone and wanted to do sexual things but they didn’t? Obviously, it wouldn’t be cool to try to change their mind, but how do you and other people deal with feeling like that? What if they didn’t like my hats? You like my hats.”

He nods. “Your hats are awesome, dude.”

“I know, right! But most people don’t think so.”

Feeling like an idiot, he makes a note he definitely has to start listening more when Ned talks.

“Okay, first of all, if a person is good enough for you, you’ll find a way to work around things if you two are on different wavelengths concerning sex. And they’ll definitely see how no one can rock a hat like you can. Second, I want to be boyfriends, but I don’t want to be- it feels like you’re just going, ‘Okay, sounds good.’”

“No." Moving his food and drink, Ned scoots closer.

He relaxes at the feel of Ned’s arm pressed against his.

“I know I’m not like most people when it comes to crushes and kissing and all that other stuff, but you’d never just be, ‘Okay, sounds good,’ to me, Peter. You’re my best friend. Yeah, if you wanted to date someone else, that’d be fine, but if you stopped having time for me, that’d hurt. And if you want to date me, that’d be awesome. It’s, um, I think I’d be like this with anyone, except, most people, I wouldn’t even want to kiss and stuff.”

Leaning over, he kisses Ned, and when it breaks, Ned has a wonderful smile on his face.

“Boyfriends, then,” Ned asks.

“Boyfriends,” he agrees.

…

When they get home, May is working on the couch.

“Aunt May, we have something to tell you.”

She looks up. “What is it, kiddos?”

Then, a resigned look crosses her face, and he quickly says, “It’s not about Spider-Man.”

“Oh, good.” Her smile comes back. “What is it?”

“Um, Ned and I-” He takes a deep breath. “We’re dating. Boyfriends.”

Beside him, Ned gives a small wave.

Seriously, he thinks.

Ned shrugs.

He didn’t think she’d react badly, but he really wasn’t prepared for the kissing and hugging and taking pictures (which: why?). “I have a coupon for that new Thai place in Manhattan and some subway tokens. You could go tomorrow or some time next weekend for a special date.”

“Really? That’d be awesome,” Ned says.

Everything is awesome right now, and he decides he’ll save the more serious things they still need to discuss for later.

…

After Ned goes home, he flops his legs over the back of the couch. “So, uh, what are the new rules?”

May gives him a quizzical look.

“Now that Ned and I are dating.”

Chuckling, she runs her fingers through his hair. “You know that I love your mom and dad. When Ben and I first realised they weren’t coming back home, I was worried, sweetheart. We didn’t know how to explain that to you, and we’d made the decision early on not to have kids. What did we know about raising them?”

He squeezes her wrist.

“More than that, neither of us knew how they would have wanted you to be raised. We knew about your bedtime rituals and that you were only allowed to have one soda after church on Sunday, which we didn’t go to except for weddings and funerals.”

He nods. He remembers they’d tried taking him a few times before he made it clear he’d rather just sleep in and watch cartoons.

“So, certain things, we did, because, we thought it was what they'd want, but the rest, we just made it up as we went along. Warning: I’m about to embarrass you. When I first started dating Ben, he was living with your grandparents, and I’d tote a ladder to his room and climb up so that we could do things his Catholic parents would probably try to perform an exorcism on us if they’d known about them.”

“Okay, one, gross, and please- you could have just left it at: I climbed a ladder up into Uncle Ben’s room. Two, that’s awesome, May.”

She smiles. “I warned you.” Shifting slightly, she sighs. “My point is, I honestly don’t know how your parents would handle this or even what Ben would think was the best thing to do. Here’s the deal: Promise me you’re always going to be safe, and as long as you’re both quiet and Ned’s parents are okay with it, I don’t care if you keep having sleepovers. If his parents have different rules, though, I expect you to follow them, and if you don’t, know that I’m probably not going to bail you out if you get caught.”

“Got it.” He flips so that he’s sitting upright. “We haven’t done anything that requires the safe sex talk, and if we decide to, we already know it, and students can get condoms in the nurse or guidance counsellor’s office.”

“Good.”

“May- I know you worry about me. I hate what happened to Ben. But he taught me to always try to do the right thing, and I don’t really remember much about my dad and mom, but I know my dad was the same way. I’ve always wanted to help people, and when I was this skinny kid who never met a virus that didn’t like me, being a great scientist like Dr Banner was my way. Now, though, I can be like him and Mister Stark both.”

“Yeah,” she softly says. “He was Ben’s brother, no doubt. And your mom, she was quieter about it. Smarter, really, but she believed in justice just as deeply.” She kisses his cheek.

“Do you think they’d care? About me liking boys? About me dating Ned?”

She hesitates. “I don’t know. People didn’t really talk about gayness, never mind bisexuality, back then. What I can tell you for certain is that, if they were here and did have a problem with it, you’d be welcome to come live here. And I meant what I said: Uncle Ben might have been confused, but you were his boy, and he would have loved you, he did love you, no matter what.”

“Thanks, May.”

…

When they go to school on Monday, MJ is there, and she’s not sick, anymore, but he kind of doubts she’s actually feeling any better.

At lunch, Ned says, “I’m glad you’re doing better, MJ.”

Rolling her eyes, she holds up a sketch. “Subtlety is beyond either of you.”

Part of him is offended, because, they haven’t done anything different than normal, but on the other hand- “Whoa, that one’s amazing. Could we have it?”

He knows the perfect place in his room to put it.

Giving them a suspicious, disgruntled look, she answers, “No.”

“Aww, but it’s the nicest one you’ve ever drawn of us,” Ned protests.

Putting it up, she goes back to eating. “When you dumbasses get caught doing something ungodly in the supply closet, I’m going to mock you endlessly over the new subject matter you’ve provided. Until then, though, I’m going to continue mocking you over the usual.”

“What would we do in the supply closet? Could we even fit in there,” Ned wonders.

Trying not to laugh, he carefully aims his webs, and managing to get the sketch, he transfers it to his own backpack.

This is stealing, he acknowledges, but quite simply, he doesn’t care. It’s an awesome sketch, and since it’s of him and Ned, it deserves to go on his bedroom wall.

…

When they go into the lab holding hands, Dr Banner smiles. “Congratulations, you two.”

Starting to walk away, he suddenly turns, and looking at them with a slight frown, he adds, “But this lab is not a place for making out or anything else. I can’t ban Tony for accidentally destroying a six-month project due to his libido, but if you two do, I can and will.”

“We won’t make out here,” he promises.

“Or do anything else like that,” Ned adds.

The smile returns. “Good. I think I’ve successfully made the tracker waterproof.”

…

Hearing Tony fly in, Bruce looks up with a smile. “Hey.”

“Hey.” Tony kisses him. “Boys here?”

“Peter’s out testing the tracker, and Ned’s being the guy in the chair. Uh, speaking of, I’m not sure you need to talk to Peter. It seems he’s figured things out on his own.”

“That mean he and Pillsbury Doughboy-”

“Tony.”

The last of the suit flies away, and Tony sits down. “C’mon, big guy, if it was an insult, I wouldn’t go there. Kid might be a genius, too, but he’s a roly-poly ball of clueless cheerfulness most of the time, and with how Peter is constantly looking as if he wants to devour him, I still can’t believe you were surprised when I told you he was probably the friend in question.”

“All I told you was that Peter was having teenage issues with a friend.”

“Right, and it took me being a genius to work out that being code for: Kid’s in love with his best friend and doesn’t know how to handle it.”

“Apparently, it takes a special kind,” he mutters. “I didn’t work that out.”

“Well, whether they’re together or not, I’m glad he’s doing better. So, uh, I’m not going with Rhodey to France next week. What do you say we-”

“What? Why not? If Thunderbolt cancelled the-”

“Hey.” Tony touches his hand. “Project’s still on. No need for us to help Dr Talbot bury a Secretary of State’s body, okay? Besides, how would we explain that to her little vampire?”

“For the last time, Tony, if Betty ever needs help with a body, I’ll dissolve it with that formula I created and understand completely if you don’t get involved in helping me commit several felonies for my ex-fiancée’s sake. And Betty’s a great mom. Bree would never know about the body disposal.”

“And for not the last time, if you ever dispose of a body without me, I’m setting Veronica after you. Anyway, project’s still on. It turns out Colonel What’s-His-Name-”

“Pierce Rhett.”

“That name makes me question the judgement and taste of whoever named him. Has a nasty case of that flu going around. We really need to up our game in the flu vaccine department. Erica’s taking his place.”

“And that’s made you decide against going? Has something happened between you and her?”

“No.” Tony plays with a pen. “She’s still as beautifully sarcastic, funny, and completely wrong about her insistence astrology is a legitimate science as ever. I just don’t feel like going. We could binge watch that new anime series and start work on that new lactose intolerance medicine. What do you say, big guy?”

“You’re aware Lt Colonel Davis is likely going to be wearing that purple bikini you like so much at some point, aren’t you? And that as someone with proper respect for his female colleagues, Rhodey will not be sending you pictures or videos?”

There’s a brief look in Tony’s eyes that makes his stomach twist before Tony answers, “Yeah. There’ll be other opportunities.”

He isn’t sure he shouldn’t have waited until Tony could make time to talk to Peter. Hopefully, at least, he managed to avoid doing any projection when talking to the kid.

There’s several ways he could handle this situation, and he’s not sure any of them will have a good outcome in the long run.

“Hey, uh, speaking of relationships, how’d you feel about the possibility of us being exclusive?”

Thankfully, Graceless rights Tony’s chair before it can completely fall backwards.

“I’m fine,” Tony hurriedly says. Waving his hand, he looks over with an incredibly vulnerable look in his eyes, and scooting his chair over closer, he continues, “Hey, um, say the word, Bruce, and that’s great, we can do that. But- what brought this on? You absolutely don’t believe in monogamy.”

“I don’t believe humanity fits the classification of a monogamous species. I do believe certain humans are inclined towards it, and I’ve never judged anyone who chooses to engage in such relationships.”

Tony rolls his eyes. “I’m not sure if you’re purposefully being pedantic or not, but okay. Despite you being one of those inclined towards monogamy, you’ve genuinely never cared if the same was true of your partners. Again, I’m- I’m not trying to talk my way out of this, Bruce. I was happy being monogamous with Pepper, and I would be with you, too, but I am confused with where exactly this is coming from.”

He carefully considers his words.

“I love you, Tony. If it’s possible, I want forever with you. Even for people inclined towards it, monogamy’s usually a big step. At this point in our lives- look, Tony, I’m never going to care if you sleep with other people. It’s just not in me to. That being said, at this point in our lives, if it’s a step you feel comfortable taking, I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t. I highly doubt I’m ever going to want to sleep with anyone else, and if I was tempted, I have no doubt I’d place you and what we have over anyone else.”

For a long moment, Tony studies his eyes and face.

Then, smiling softly, Tony kisses him. “I love you, too, Bruce. And yes. I’d love being exclusive with you.”

“Good.”

Tony squeezes his hand. “I’m not sure how this might come out, and I’m aware it might not-”

“You want to go to Paris with Rhodey and Lt Colonel Davis.”

Giving a tentative, half-wry smile, Tony nods.

He laughs. “Have fun, Tony.”

“If-”

“Tony, I know that, if you promise monogamy, you’ll keep that promise. Have fun looking at her in that purple bikini, and if you go anywhere there’s dancing, I’m telling you: Dance with her, Tony. I think it’s both hilarious and sweet how much you two like making fools of yourselves on the dance floor.”

“You’re just jealous of how good we look and how graceful our moves are.”

“If that makes you feel more secure, keep telling yourself that. Everyone else knows that Graceless has better moves than the two of you.”

Graceless happily chirps, and laughing, Tony kisses him. “I know, if I suggest we celebrate here, you’ll bring up the time there was that minor accident-”

“Six months of work was rendered useless, Tony.”

“But what do you say we ditch the kids and go home?”

“Sounds good.”

...

Taking a drink of juice and setting it back on the nightstand, Peter looks down at Ned’s wide eyes and slack face.

Finally uncovering his mouth, Ned says, “Whoa. Peter, that was so good.”

Grinning, he slips under the covers.

“Do- do you want me to-”

“No,” he answers. “Not right now. Maybe some other night.”

“Okay.” Yawning, Ned slips an arm underneath him and wraps it upwards.

Pressing a little closer against Ned, he glances over at the sketch before closing his eyes with a smile and quickly falling into a contented sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Author’s Note: My head!canon of Bruce has always been him being a bisexual somewhere on the demi spectrum. However, I don’t think he knows much, if anything, about demisexuality or would identify as being on the spectrum if he did. If he did have knowledge of demisexuality, he would have recognised this might be a possibility for Peter’s friend and would have definitely been directing Peter towards age-appropriate books/websites.
> 
> On another note, demisexuality doesn’t mean a person will lack sexual jealously or be personally okay with non-monogamy/an open relationship, and I’ve never meant to imply so with my writing. I just personally view Bruce and Ned as very non-jealous people who wouldn’t be upset if someone they were with wanted to have sex with others but would be hurt if the emotional relationship they had with the person was threatened, and in Bruce’s case, I’ve always seen this attitude as partially being formed by his strong belief in bodily autonomy and him realising from a young age how infidelity can hurt people with him just being like, ‘Loving someone means you’re restricted with what you do with your own body? Nope. If I’m with someone, as long as they don’t physically hurt someone, I don’t have any right to tell them what they can and can’t do with their body.’


End file.
